And maybe this time, it’s okay to be old-school.

In a world where the job application procedure has evolved to where face to face contact has sometimes been replaced with virtual meetings (in worlds such as Second Life), isn’t it also about time that the boring old resume started to evolve as well?  The standard format of: this is who I am, this is where I went to school and this is where I’ve worked may seen a bit passe to many prospects, particularly N-Geners with big aspirations, who find it difficult to put everything in to neat little boxes, including “work experience”, “education”, and “community involvement” to name a few.

Where resume 1.0 has long held exclusive reign, companies such as Visual CV have entered the market to provide more colourful applicant representations (both literally and figuratively).  Allowing users to create electronic documents that can be customized to the users’ needs to include extras such as PDF files of recommendation letters and hyperlinks to employer and institutional information, these CVs provide much more depth than a traditional black and white, one page resume of the day.

In theory, I think Visual CV and its competitors may be on to something – namely that the CV is in need of an overhaul – but in practice, I am not sure if it is more photos/videos and PDFs that will make for a stronger and more useful CV – both from an applicant’s and an employee’s perspective. 

In a world where HR managers are pressed for time and often lack the luxury of spending more than a few minutes on a resume’s initial pass, I am unsure whether the extra time required to create a more colourful CV will provide commensurate reward for either the applicant or the potential employer.  (Not to mention the legal issues that may be associated in certain places with the inclusion of a photo)   

What is required, moreso, may be a fundamental change in some of the questions answered on a standard resume. Potential sections of the successful future CV may include:  What I know. Where I have done it. Who I know and what they know. What I want to create and Who I want to meet and why.

The CV is typically a tool used to gain an applicant an interview, where the ability to shine and truly “colour” one’s experience should come.  Is there the need to fast forward some of the ability to expand on experience onto the resume or is the resume best left as is?  When is “good enough” actually just as it sounds?  Is changing the CV subtraction by addition? What do you think?